Fife baseball going to state for fourth season in a row

Fife baseball will play in the Class 2A state tournament for the fourth consecutive season.

The Trojans, the top seed from the SPSL, beat North Mason, 4-1, and Port Angeles, 4-0, in the 2A SeaKing/West Central bidistrict tournament Saturday to guarantee a state berth.

“I felt like we earned this one,” Fife coach Shane Nixon said. “They’re two really great Olympic League teams. … We had to earn every run we scored.”

The Trojans (20-2) jumped in front of North Mason (10-11) early on a solo home run by Tanner Knapp in the first. Fife picked up one run in the third and two more in the fourth on RBI singles by Jaden Hassell and Tanner Broom. Hassell was 3 for 4 with two stolen bases.

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The Trojans shut out Port Angeles (10-9) in the second round behind Broom, who struck out nine. Fife broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the fifth — including a two-run triple by Knapp — and added one more in the sixth.

“We just have to keep playing one game at a time,” Knapp said.

Fife plays KingCo No. 1 seed Liberty (10-12) in the third round at 1 p.m. Saturday at Kitsap County Fairgrounds.

Washington 14, Foster 3: After losing 9-1 to Olympic in the first round, the Patriots rallied to beat the Bulldogs in five innings. Reis Carter was 4 for 4 with six RBIs. He had two singles, a double and a grand slam.

Franklin Pierce 14, Tyee 0: The Cardinals lost to Olympic No. 1 seed North Kitsap, 9-1, before crushing the Totems in the second round. Jon Samons pitched the five-inning shutout, allowing two hits.

White River 10, Highline 0: The Hornets recovered from a 3-1 loss to Sequim by shutting out the Pirates, the Seamount No. 1 seed, in the second round. Dustin France struck out seven and Case Ford hit a two-run single in the fourth as White River opened a 5-0 lead. The Hornets tacked on five more in the seventh.

North Kitsap 5, River Ridge 0: The Hawks couldn’t keep the momentum after their 11-9 win over Tyee and were shut out by the Vikings in the second round. River Ridge — and every other 2A SPSL team — is still in contention for a state berth.